Lesson 101 · أَلَمْ
Questions that make a point: أَلَمْ, أَلَيْسَ, أَفَلَا
Put the question word أَ before a negative and you get a question that expects “yes”: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكَ؟ (didn’t I tell you?). The Quran uses questions like these again and again to make the listener think. Answer them with بَلَى (yes, indeed), not نَعَمْ.
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكَ؟a-lam aqul laka?Didn’t I tell you?
أَلَيْسَ هٰذَا كِتَابَكَ؟ بَلَىa-laysa haadhaa kitaabaka? balaaIsn’t this your book? Yes, it is.
أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَa-fa-laa taʿqiluunaWill you not then use your reason?
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَa-lam nashraḥ laka ṣadrakaDid We not open your heart for you? (94:1)
أَلَيْسَ اللّٰهُ بِأَحْكَمِ الْحَاكِمِينَa-laysa llaahu bi-aḥkami l-ḥaakimiinaIs Allah not the most just of judges? (95:8)
هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانُhal jazaa’u l-iḥsaani illa l-iḥsaanuIs the reward for good anything but good? (55:60)
Key points
- أَلَمْ + a verb with the silent ending: أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ (did We not open your heart for you?, 94:1). أَلَيْسَ: أَلَيْسَ اللّٰهُ بِأَحْكَمِ الْحَاكِمِينَ (is Allah not the most just of judges?, 95:8).
- أَفَلَا and أَوَلَمْ put فَـ or وَ after the أَ: أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ (will you not then use your reason?) · أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ (do they not reflect on the Quran?, 4:82).
- بَلَى says yes to a negative question; نَعَمْ would agree with the negative. أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ؟ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ (Am I not your Lord? They said: yes indeed, 7:172). هَلْ … إِلَّا expects “no”: هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانُ (is the reward for good anything but good?, 55:60).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Ask a man “Didn’t you study?”
أَلَمْ تَدْرُسْ؟ a-lam tadrus?
Answer أَلَمْ تَدْرُسْ؟ with “Yes, I did.”
بَلَى، دَرَسْتُ balaa, darastu
نَعَمْ would mean “Right, I didn’t.”
Ask “Isn’t the weather beautiful?”
أَلَيْسَ الْجَوُّ جَمِيلًا؟ a-laysa l-jawwu jamiilan?
